An international freight ship carrying 700 containers departed from Tianjin Port for Southeast Asian countries on July 23, the first of its kind to be operated by MSC in the port in recent years.

It marks the third container liner route to have been opened since July linking Tianjin Port with Belt and Road countries and RCEP member states.

“The opening of new routes has realized daily container liner exchanges between Tianjin Port and major ports in Southeast Asia, and shortened the sea transportation time from Tianjin to Southeast Asian countries to 9 days, which will provide more and more convenient services for our customers.” said Liu Xin, a manager for route development at Tianjin Port Co., Ltd.

From January to June, China's trade with Belt and Road countries and RCEP member states soared by 17.8 percent and 5.6 percent year-on-year, respectively.

As a pivotal shipping outlet for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region located on the coast of the Bohai Sea, the port has actively seized development opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative and RCEP.  

The port has provided support to the country's foreign trade and the operation of global supply chains. According to Tianjin Customs, in the first half of the year, Tianjin’s foreign trade with Belt and Road countries and RCEP member states increased by 42.6 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively.

In the first half of the year, the Tianjin Port Group saw its container throughput hit 10.51 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 2.1 percent - a new record for the same period.

During the period, container throughput with RCEP countries, such as the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Myanmar, increased by more than 7 percent year-on-year.